


Little Pieces

by kuhlaine



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M, the ratatouille au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24988729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuhlaine/pseuds/kuhlaine
Summary: Blaine does what he can to fill the void Kurt's left behind after he moves to New York City.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel
Comments: 12
Kudos: 36





	Little Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> aka the ratatouille klaine au (except not at all, I'm very sorry if you were expecting Kurt to be a rat) ((happy 13th anniversary to ratatouille)
> 
> this is canon up until episode 4x01!

Everything feels different from the moment Kurt leaves. The left side of Blaine’s mattress, once molded to the shape of Kurt — who’d spent so many warm summer nights curled up there — grows smooth, forgetting the curve of Kurt’s body in what feels like no time at all. The scent of him, lavender body wash and Herbal Essences shampoo, clings to the collar of the cardigan he’d forgotten one of those last lazy afternoons, draped across the back of Blaine’s desk chair. Blaine is too embarrassed to admit that it’s become one of his most prized possessions, that he sometimes holds it up to his nose and inhales deeply on the nights he misses Kurt the most. Sometimes he falls asleep with it, waking up to the cardigan spread out across the opposite side of the bed the way Kurt always used to. But soon that scent fades too.

He tries not to dwell on it — he was the one who pushed Kurt to take the plunge and move to New York after all. This is good. This is Kurt getting to live in the city of his dreams with his best friends and Blaine gets to… well, he’s still trying to figure that part out.

Despite his best efforts, it soon becomes impossible to ignore the absence of all things Kurt in his daily routine. There are no morning coffee dates at the Lima Bean or stolen kisses between classes or trips to the mall just because they want to spend more time with one another. Blaine texts Kurt whenever he can during the school day — but finds that getting his thoughts out via text is more cumbersome than just relaying them in person during glee rehearsal or lunch.

It feels like there are little pieces of Kurt everywhere, and Blaine worries that if he holds on to them too tight they’ll fade away just like the real Kurt has.

But some things remain the same, they’re just a little bit different now.

Blaine is still invited to Sunday evening Hummel-Hudson family dinners, even though Kurt isn’t around anymore. Finn appreciates the company now that Rachel is off in the city now too. It makes the house feel a little less empty, and it helps Finn and Blaine feel a little less lonely.

Just because Kurt isn't around to critique his cooking skills doesn’t mean Blaine doesn’t take the potluck aspect of Sunday night dinners any less seriously. He spends most of his Sunday mornings chopping and dicing and boiling and preheating until he’s an unpresentable, sweaty mess, giving himself just enough time to shower and change before heading over to the Hudson-Hummel’s. 

Without Kurt’s contributions Sunday night dinners are left with a strange void, a lack of an elaborate, over the top dish that shines above the rest — a void Blaine tries his best to fill on his own. Coq au vin, smoked gouda whipped potatoes, and even a lemon herb roasted poussin — all recipes Kurt had always said he’d wanted to try before he left for the city.

The recipes come from Kurt himself, from a box he’s had stashed under his bed since he was ten. He’d told Blaine about it before he left, telling him to take a peek inside it if he ever found himself in Kurt’s room alone after he’s gone. He finds the recipes, handwritten in a frayed notebook with a variety of nonsensical notes and scribbles in the margins, along with a varied collection of knick knacks that Blaine instantly recognizes. Movie stubs and notes passed during class and polaroids and stuffed animals and doodles that read Kurt + Blaine. 

Every time Blaine worries that Kurt is starting to forget him he thinks about that box, and about how Kurt reassured him that he handpicked his favorite things to bring along with him to New York — an old Dalton tie, their prom photos, his gum wrapper ring — and remembers how much their story means to Kurt too.

When he’s making those recipes it feels like Kurt is still with him, judging him silently as he sits on the counter and has to physically restrain himself from stepping in and doing things himself. He can even feel the gentle tug of Kurt’s fingers on whatever lock of Blaine’s hair has broken free from it’s gel prison. It had been his not at all subtle way of trying to steer Blaine in the right direction without actually butting in — a quirk he’d picked up after their second viewing of _Ratatouille_. Blaine had found it bothersome at first, Kurt’s refusal to let him take charge in the kitchen — but he’d give anything to have Kurt tugging at the loose curl by his ear until he finally turns around, smirking and telling him that his onions are nowhere near caramelized.

Blaine’s not immune to Kurt’s critiques, even from hundreds of miles away. Whenever he finishes up his dish for the evening he snaps a photo to send to Kurt, biting back a grin as he waits expectantly for a reply. Kurt usually sends notes — the duck could be a little more golden, the potatoes look a tad burnt, is there enough salt in that broth? — but he means it all in good fun. At the end of the day his critiques make Blaine a better chef. And it’s a conversation, something they don’t always get to have every day.

Blaine texts his usual photo of his latest dish — the fourth one thus far, a tuscan garlic skillet chicken, and receives a reply faster than he’d anticipated. Kurt usually takes his time before replying, sometimes it even takes a few hours for him to respond, and Blaine always tells himself it’s because Kurt’s occupied or busy not because he’s ignoring him.

_Excellent job, Little Chef ;)_

It’s the first time he’s never had a critique for one of his dishes. He can practically hear Kurt’s voice as he reads the message over once more and then once again because it makes him unbelievably happy. It’s a nickname he hasn’t used in months — another nod to their favorite Pixar comfort movie, and a dig at Blaine’s height. 

It’s not the same, having to imagine Kurt’s voice instead of hearing it in person, but it still feels just as wonderful. Knowing that he can still make Kurt smile.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! :) maybe next time it'll be an actual rat klaine au


End file.
